The country’s biggest cat was caught on camera in an area of continuous forest with minimal human disturbance. (Conanp)
Camera traps installed in the woods of the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve of Guanajuato have recorded the first official images of a jaguar (Panthera onca) in that area, according to the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (Conanp).
The Conanp reported that the images were obtained via a 75-trap camera system operated by community monitors.
The country’s biggest cat was spotted in an area of continuous forest with minimal human disturbance, functioning as a biological corridor that links feline populations from central to eastern Mexico. This Natural Protected Area (ANP) extends 236,882 hectares, representing 8.92% of the total territory of Guanajuato state.
A recent study found that the jaguar’s habitat extends through 16 states, or half of Mexico: Sonora, Sinaloa, Nayarit, Jalisco, Michoacán, Guerrero, Chiapas, Quintana Roo, Yucatán, Campeche, Morelos, Hidalgo, San Luis Potosí, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas.
Thanks to these latest images, scientists have added the Guanajuato jaguar to the national distribution and conservation map of the species. The sighting also marks a milestone for the reserve itself: scientists have now confirmed the presence of all six wild cat species native to Mexico within Sierra Gorda — ocelot, margay, jaguar, jaguarundi, lynx and puma.
According to Conanp, these apex predators are essential to the health of entire ecosystems. Their role in regulating herbivore populations curbs overgrazing, sustains biodiversity, and supports the broader environmental services on which the region depends.
Experts note that the finding validates the functionality of the biological corridors that connect Guanajuato with Querétaro, San Luis Potosí and Hidalgo along the Sierra Madre Oriental.
Furthermore, the jaguar’s presence in Guanajuato’s reserve adds to the list of priority species for conservation that inhabit the region. These include the green macaw, the mountain axolotl, the golden eagle, the black bear and rattlesnakes.
Lastly, the Conanp recalled that the discovery of the jaguar was made possible by a research project conducted between August 2024 and May 2025, led by biologist Juan Felipe Charre-Medellín and his team. The project was funded by the Toyota Group and the Science, Humanities, Technology and Innovation Ministry (Secihti).
The Sagrada Familia's Glory Façade — the main entrance and final section — will depict humanity’s journey from sin to salvation, including scenes of the Last Judgement, hell and glory. (Shutterstock)
More than 140 years after construction began, Barcelona’s iconic Sagrada Familia is reaching its final stage — and Mexican sculptor Javier Marín may help bring Antoni Gaudí’s unfinished vision to fruition.
Designed by Gaudí as a vast theological “Bible in stone,” the basilica is the crown jewel of Catalan Modernism and part of a UNESCO World Heritage ensemble that recognizes his experimental, highly sculptural approach to sacred architecture.
Begun in 1882, it is distinguished by three immense façades symbolizing the life of Christ: Nativity, Passion and Glory.
The Glory Façade — the main entrance and final section — will depict humanity’s journey from sin to salvation, including scenes of the Last Judgement, hell and glory.
It is the most complex and ambitious section, as Gaudí left few directions before his death in 1926, compelling today’s curators to balance tradition and innovation.
Marín says artificial intelligence was an essential element of his creative process, in honor of the forward-thinking mentality exemplified by Gaudí during his time. (Javier Marín/Facebook)
He is one of three contemporary sculptors invited to propose designs for the façade, along with Spaniards Miquel Barceló and Cristina Iglesias. The board of trustees of the Sagrada Familia is expected to choose a final plan in April.
Over the past months, Marín has immersed himself in Gaudí’s world.
“I was captivated by his boundless imagination,” Marín told the newspaper La Jornada. “After all this research, I was impressed by how you can conceive such a large work, knowing that it will have to be completed by other people in the future with new technologies.”
Marín blends classical expression and contemporary technique in monumental sculptures installed across Mexico and abroad.
His public works include “Cabeza Vainilla” in Mexico City’s Historic Center; “Retablo,” an altarpiece in the UNESCO-listed Cathedral Basilica of Zacatecas; and “Hoy es hoy,” a large bronze head now on loan to the Jacksonville Jaguars NFL team after standing in Florida’s Jacksonville International Airport from 2006 to 2023.
Internationally, his pieces have been shown at the Venice Biennale and in major European institutions such as the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome.
His proposal for Barcelona combines handcrafted models with artificial intelligence and robotics.
“It has to be,” he told the newspaper El Sol de México. “It should be possible to read there that we did it at this time and with all these [new] tools.”
Coinciding with his selection, Mexican architect Mauricio Cortés Sierra recently completed Gaudí’s cross atop the Tower of Jesus Christ, now the basilica’s highest point at 172.5 meters.
The Mexico City–born architect has spent years embedded in the Sagrada Familia’s design team, overseeing the terminals of the six central towers that define the basilica’s new skyline.
His work on the cross literally crowns the same Barcelona church where Marín could soon sign the main entrance.
The highest inflation rate for any category monitored by INEGI between the second half of February and the first half of March was 8.34% for fruit and vegetables. (Victoria Valtierra/Cuartoscuro)
Inflation continues to rise in Mexico, with the annual headline rate approaching 5% in the first half of March.
The national statistics agency INEGI reported on Tuesday that the annual headline inflation rate was 4.63% in the first 15 days of the month, up from 4.02% across February. Compared to the second half of February, inflation was 0.62% in early March.
It appears almost certain that inflation will rise for a third consecutive month in March, after increases in both January and February.
The annual headline rate reported by INEGI on Thursday came in well above the 4.37% median forecast of analysts polled by Bloomberg.
INEGI also reported that Mexico’s annual core inflation rate in the first half of March was 4.46%, down from 4.50% across February. That reading excludes inflation for food and energy, whose prices tend to be volatile.
The publication of the inflation data for the first half of the month comes just two days before the Bank of Mexico (Banxico) board will decide whether to cut, maintain or increase the central bank’s benchmark interest rate, which is currently set at 7%. The bank targets 3% inflation with tolerance of a 2-4% range.
In a post to X on Tuesday morning, the director of economic analysis at Banco Base, Gabriela Siller, wrote that the Bank of Mexico “should be cautious” and maintain its key interest rate at 7% after its board’s monetary policy meeting this Thursday.
Ahora que la inflación se disparó por la guerra en Irán y por la inseguridad pública en México, vale la pena recordar como se calcula la inflación y cómo puede combatirse.
Abro hilo
La inflación es la tasa de crecimiento de los precios, que se estima con el índice nacional de…
Cutting the interest rate “would be a serious monetary policy error,” she asserted after writing that it’s “possible” that the bank may in fact need to raise its key rate in the coming months.
What’s driving inflation in Mexico?
INEGI’s data shows that annual inflation for agricultural products (fruit, vegetables and meat) was 9.69% in the first half of March. That rate is derived from inflation of 23.91% for fruit and vegetables and 0.57% for meat.
Annual inflation was 5.91% for processed food, beverages and tobacco, 3.16% for non-food goods, 4.49% for services and 1.76% for energy, including electricity and gasoline.
Compared to the second half of February, energy prices (excluding electricity) rose 0.61% due to a rise in gasoline and diesel prices. The newspaper El Economista reported that fuel prices have gone up due to the increase in international oil prices since the start of the Iran War at the end of February. The federal government last week secured a deal with gas station owners to renew a gasoline price cap agreement for a further six months as it seeks to ease cost-of-living pressures for Mexicans.
The highest inflation rate for any category monitored by INEGI between the second half of February and the first half of March was 8.34% for fruit and vegetables, whose prices can fluctuate wildly depending on climatic conditions. Growers of such produce, including avocados and limes, are among those targeted by extortionists.
Analysts divided over whether Banxico will cut or maintain 7% rate
15 of 29 analysts polled by Bloomberg expect the Bank of Mexico board to vote in favor of maintaining Banxico’s key interest rate at 7% at this week’s monetary policy meeting, while 14 are anticipating a 25-basis-point cut to 6.75%.
On Feb. 5, the Banxico board ended a streak of interest rate cuts at 12 consecutive monetary policy meetings by deciding to maintain the 7% rate.
The Bank of Mexico said in a statement at the time that the board took into account “the need to continue evaluating the impact of the fiscal adjustments implemented at the beginning of the year, as well as the behavior of the exchange rate, the weakness of economic activity, and the level of monetary restriction [already] implemented.”
In the same statement, Banxico forecast an average annual inflation rate of 4% in the first quarter of 2026. Considering that inflation was 4.02% in February and 4.63% in the first half of March, it looks likely that the central bank’s forecast will turn out to be an underestimation.
The two victims of the shooting were identified as María del Rosario, 36, and Tatiana Bedolla, 37. (Google Maps)
A teenage boy allegedly shot and killed two female teachers at a high school in the Pacific coast port city of Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán, on Tuesday morning.
The shooting occurred at the Antón Makárenko High School (Preparatoria) in the downtown area of Lázaro Cárdenas. The alleged perpetrator — reportedly a 15-year-old student at the school — was detained.
“After a report from @C5Michoacan [command center] due to gunfire detonations at the Makárenko High School in Lázaro Cárdenas, the [Michoacán] Civil Guard along with municipal police carried out an operation resulting in the arrest of an adolescent allegedly related to the events,” the Michoacán Security Ministry (SSP) said on social media.
The ministry said that two deceased women with bullet wounds were located inside the school. It also said security forces seized a 5.56 millimeter caliber rifle.
Video footage showed the alleged perpetrator being held by a police officer, who had apparently tied a thin rope around the youth’s waist prior to handcuffing him. According to some media reports, the adolescent opened fire after he was initially blocked from entering the school. The newspaper El Universal reported that it appears he was denied entry because he had arrived late, while the news outlet La Silla Rota said there were claims that he had been expelled from the school and was seeking revenge.
Authorities didn’t mention any possible motive for the crime.
El Universal reported that the suspect is the step-son of a member of the navy and perpetrated the double homicide with an AR-15 rifle. He was not immediately identified by name. La Silla Rota reported that the suspect had shown off his firearm in a video posted to social media.
Victims identified as teachers in their 30s
The two victims of the shooting were identified as María del Rosario, 36, and Tatiana Bedolla, 37. Both were teachers at the high school in downtown Lázaro Cárdenas and died at the scene of the crime.
The shooting reportedly triggered panic among students and teachers at the Antón Makárenko High School, a private educational institute. According to reports, they hid in classrooms after gunshots rang out and called emergency services to request help.
Personnel from the Michoacán Attorney General’s Office reportedly went to the school to collect evidence.
School shootings are rare in Mexico, but not unheard of. Among the previous incidents are a shooting perpetrated at a primary school in Torreón, Coahuila, in 2020. In that incident, an 11-year-old boy killed his teacher and wounded five students and one teacher before taking his own life.
Sheinbaum said that the proposed law would be sent to the lower house of Congress on Tuesday. (Galo Cañas/Cuartoscuro)
Sheinbaum’s mañanera in 60 seconds
⚖️ New anti-femicide law — Attorney General Ernestina Godoy unveiled a landmark bill to standardize femicide classifications and punishments nationwide: 40–70 years in prison for femicide, 20+ years for attempts, with 21 aggravating factors (e.g., victims who were pregnant, minors or elderly).
🗂️ Uniform investigations — All Attorney General’s offices would be required to investigate every violent death of a woman or girl under the femicide hypothesis.
📊 By the numbers — 6,440 femicides recorded in Mexico between January 2019 and January 2026.
🗳️ “Plan B” electoral reform in doubt — Sheinbaum conceded that her “Plan B” bill may not pass Congress, as the Labor Party (PT) is resistant to the proposed law, but she remains confident that it will. Nevertheless, she didn’t rule out a “Plan C” electoral reform.
🛢️ Pemex + Petrobras? — Sheinbaum confirmed that Brazil’s President Lula da Silva proposed a joint venture between the two state oil giants to explore deepwater oil in the Gulf of Mexico. No decision yet; talks will continue in April.
On Tuesday, a legislative initiative that seeks to address the most serious problem Mexican women face — violence — was unveiled.
Sheinbaum’s mañanera was also significant as the president acknowledged that her “plan B” electoral reform bill might not get through Congress, and confirmed that Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Lula) had proposed a joint venture between Mexican state oil company Pemex and its Brazilian counterpart Petrobras.
AG presents new anti-femicide law
Attorney General Ernestina Godoy presented a proposed General Law to Prevent, Investigate, Sanction and Provide Compensation for the Crime of Femicide.
The bill seeks to establish a national classification of femicide — the killing of a woman or girl due to “reasons of gender” — and uniform punishment for the crime across the country.
Attorney General Ernestina Godoy presented a proposed General Law to Prevent, Investigate, Sanction and Provide Compensation for the Crime of Femicide at the president’s morning press conference on Tuesday. (Saúl López Escorcia/Presidencia)
Godoy explained that among nine “reasons of gender” that would result in the murder of a female being classified as a femicide are that the body of the femicide victim showed “signs of sexual violence,” and that the perpetrator had previously committed acts of violence against the victim.
The proposed law seeks to establish a punishment of 40 to 70 years imprisonment and a hefty fine for a person found guilty of committing femicide. Attempted femicide would be punished by a minimum prison sentence of 20 years.
Godoy explained that the bill proposes the establishment of 21 aggravating factors that would result in a perpetrator of femicide being given a longer prison sentence. They include that the victim was a girl, adolescent or elderly woman; that the victim was pregnant or had a disability; and that the femicide was committed in front of the victim’s children.
Godoy said that the bill seeks to standardize “investigation protocols” in cases of femicide across Mexico. If the bill is approved, all Attorney General’s offices would be required to investigate all violent deaths of women and girls “under the hypothesis of femicide.”
Sheinbaum said that the proposed law would be sent to the lower house of Congress on Tuesday.
Asked whether she would develop a ‘plan C’ electoral reform proposal if her ‘plan B’ bill is rejected by Congress, Sheinbaum said she didn’t know, but didn’t rule out that possibility.
She subsequently expressed confidence that her ‘plan B’ proposal will, in fact, pass Congress, even though the Labor Party (PT) — an ally of the ruling Morena party — appears unlikely to support the bill in its current form.
“I don’t think [PT lawmakers] are going to vote against eliminating privileges,” Sheinbaum said.
▶️ “Habría que ver, pero no creo que vayan a votar en contra de eliminar privilegios”: Claudia Sheinbaum señaló que la votación de su ‘Plan B’ de reforma electoral mostrará “quiénes son todos”
The PT is not happy with an aspect of “Plan B” that could allow a presidential recall election to be held in 2027 at the same time as a federal congressional election, as the party reportedly believes such a scenario would erode its support at the ballot box and benefit Morena. The PT’s opposition to the law, combined with its rejection by opposition parties, could doom it to failure in Congress.
Sheinbaum confirms that Lula proposed Pemex-Petrobras joint venture
Sheinbaum confirmed that during her call with Lula earlier this month, the Brazilian president proposed the establishment of a joint venture between Pemex and Petrobras to explore oil in the Gulf of Mexico.
Lula revealed that he had made the proposal during an event in Brazil last Friday.
Founded in 1953, Petrobras already operates in the Gulf of Mexico via a joint venture with Murphy Exploration & Production, according to Reuters. (Shutterstock)
On Tuesday morning, Sheinbaum said:
“He said to me, ‘Why don’t we make an alliance?’ Petrobras has specialized a lot in deep waters, so he proposed, ‘Why don’t we make an alliance with Pemex?'”
Sheinbaum said that her government hasn’t yet decided whether Pemex will enter into a joint venture project with Petrobras, but noted that the head of the Brazilian company will come to Mexico in April to meet with the CEO of Pemex and the federal energy minister.
She said that Brazil’s proposal will be discussed during those talks. Sheinbaum said that a joint venture with Petrobras would mainly focus on deepwater exploration and drilling for oil, rather than gas.
“We’re going to see what the proposal is. We haven’t made a decision yet, but it’s true that Lula proposed [a joint venture] and [the idea] comes from the president of Petrobras,” Sheinbaum said.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)
López represented Mexico in the 2024 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Puerto Rico and has spent the past two seasons playing for the New Zealand Breakers in the Australian National Basketball League (NBL). (@karim_lopez21/Instagram)
The Mexican athlete Karim López is poised to make history on June 25, right in the middle of the World Cup, but it has nothing to do with soccer.
On Monday, ESPN’s senior NBA insider Shams Charania broke the news that López — who spent the past two seasons playing for the New Zealand Breakers in the Australian National Basketball League (NBL) — officially declared for the draft.
NBA eligibility rules require international players under the age of 22 — López will turn 19 on April 12 — to formally apply in writing 60 days before the draft.
After confirming his intention to enter the upcoming draft, López spoke about his dreams of playing in the premier basketball league in the world.
“It’s been … a goal my whole life to play in the NBA,” he said. “Honestly, since I can remember. I was probably like 5 years old, making drawings of myself playing in the NBA … It’s pretty special, you know, to be in this position right now.”
Karim Lopez’s Best NBL Plays
The 6’9” forward could be selected as high as No. 11, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Woo, who says “NBA teams are optimistic about his mix of size, skill and toughness.”
In projecting López’s draft prospects, USA Today NBA staff writer Bryan Kalbrosky believes that although he still needs some development, “the physically gifted forward is widely seen as the top prospect from this class currently playing overseas.”
During the just completed NBL season, López — the son of former Mexican national team player Jesús Hiram López — averaged 11.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2 assists per game, while shooting better than 50% from the field.
Former NBL players now starring in the NBA include LaMelo Ball (Charlotte Hornets), Josh Giddey (Chicago Bulls) and Alex Sarr (selected second overall in the 2024 NBA Draft by the Washington Wizards).
Only one other Mexican-born player has ever been drafted by an NBA team and that came 26 years ago when Eduardo Najera was selected in the 2nd round with the 38th overall pick.
Among the four Mexicans to have played in the NBA, Najera — a native of Meoqui, Chihuahua — had the longest career, playing 678 games (playoffs included) from 2000 to 2012.
The other three Mexicans to have worn NBA jerseys are Horacio Llamas from El Rosario, Sinaloa (28 games from 1996-1998), Gustavo Ayón from Tepic, Nayarit (135 games from 2011-2014) and Jorge Gutiérrez from Chihuahua city (47 games from 2013-2016).
An illustration of a tower at the Trump Ocean Resort Baja Mexico, a condo project that was to have been built just south of Tijuana. (YouTube)
It has been 20 years since the Trump Ocean Resort Baja Mexico was first announced, and just over 10 years since the dust settled on the myriad lawsuits that the ultimately failed project produced. In hindsight, it’s easy to trace the souring of Donald Trump on Mexico in the wake of this disappointment. Following the debacle in Baja California, he invested in two other failed projects in the country, famously declaring in 2015: “Don’t do business with Mexico!”
By that time, he was already floating the idea of building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico as he transitioned from real estate and reality television to run for the U.S. presidency.
The Trump Ocean Resort Baja Mexico
Donald Trump in promo video for Trump Ocean Resort Baja Mexico
Today, the site of what was to be the Trump Ocean Resort Baja Mexico is nothing but mud, literally and figuratively. However, in October 2006, when plans for the 526-unit luxury condo-hotel at Punta Bandera, south of Tijuana, were officially announced, Trump had nothing but good things to say about Mexico and the project, which would include three 25-story towers on 17 oceanfront acres, with luxe amenities such as concierge service for owners, a fine-dining restaurant, multiple swimming pools, and a fitness center and tennis courts. According to Trump, the property would “redefine the standard of premier property ownership and service excellence for all of Northern Mexico.”
In a promotional video made to entice buyers, Trump added, “One of the things I most love about this project is that it’s in Baja, Mexico, and Baja is one of the really hot places. Baja right now is where Cabo was 10 years ago, and you know what happened to Cabo.”
Thanks largely to the Trump name and a lavish event held to promote the project in San Diego, buyers were successfully enticed. Condos at Trump Ocean Resort Baja were listed at prices ranging from US $250,000 to up to $3 million for larger units, and over 32 million dollars in deposits were taken, with depositors given promises that the build-out of the property would take three to four years.
Construction did begin, barely, with a hole dug for a foundation and a billboard erected showing Trump’s face and the slogan, “Owning here is just the beginning.” But the project was abandoned in 2009 after the developers failed to secure a construction loan from German bank WestLB. That, not coincidentally, was the same year the first lawsuits were filed.
Lawsuits and litigation
Prospective buyers had been under the impression that the developers of Trump Ocean Resort Baja Mexico were Trump and the Los Angeles-based real estate agency Irongate. However, once lawsuits were filed, it was revealed that Trump had only licensed his name for the project, pocketing a reported US $500,000 for his branding and promotional efforts.
Buyers, and their lawyers, felt it had gone much farther than that, and that Trump’s role had been fraudulently misrepresented. Nearly 200 were listed on the class-action lawsuit that finally led to a US $7.25 million settlement by Irongate in a Los Angeles court in 2012, with Daniel King, attorney for the plaintiffs, noting that every one of his clients “was led to believe that ‘Trump’ was the developer of the project.”
Trump soured on Mexico due to failed business deals before he was elected U.S. president. (Shutterstock)
Trump, whose own culpability in the Trump Ocean Resort Baja Mexico’s collapse would continue to drag on in court for another year, had also turned on Irongate, blaming the company’s Jason Grosfeld and Adam Fisher for the failure in a separate 2009 lawsuit.
The 2008 worldwide financial crisis that decimated housing markets has often been listed as a leading cause for Trump Ocean Resort Baja Mexico’s failure, but claims by a former member of Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies, Jaime Martínez Veloz, that the project lacked proper permits could have doomed it as well. Martínez Veloz filed yet another lawsuit in Mexico in 2016, this one claiming Trump committed tax fraud, later adding failure to obtain proper permits to the complaint.
More financial woe in Mexico for Trump
The Trump Ocean Resort Baja Mexico became a huge embarrassment for its namesake, both personally and financially (Trump finally settled in court for an undisclosed amount in 2013). It was his first, but hardly his last, business fiasco in Mexico.
In 2007, a year after the Baja California project was announced, Trump attempted to develop the Punta Arrecifes Resort, a luxury complex in Cozumel that would have included a hotel, marina, golf course and private airstrip, but the project was scuttled by environmental pushback. There were also rumors that a local politician had asked for a sizable bribe to approve permits.
Also in 2007, Trump, then the co-owner of the Miss Universe organization of pageants with NBCUniversal, which broadcast them, decided to bring the Miss Universe pageant to Mexico City. To do so, he signed deals with Mexican businessmen Pedro Rodríguez and Rodolfo Rosas Moya to cover the costs of the event, with the latter putting up some properties in Playa del Carmen as collateral.
There are conflicting reports about whether the pageant was profitable or not, but Trump claimed it wasn’t and that he was owed US $12 million. So he filed suit to seize the property Rosas Moya had put up as collateral. However, despite years of legal wrangling in the U.S. and Mexico, he recouped nothing, leading to a famous series of tweets by the future president in February and March 2015 in which he claimed, “Because of Rodolfo Rosas Moya, who owes me lots of money, Mexico will never again host the Miss Universe Pageant,” and “Mexico’s court system corrupt. I want nothing to do with Mexico other than to build an impenetrable WALL and stop them from ripping off U.S.”
Rodolfo Rosas Moya would boast that two of his attorneys defeated 300 working for Trump to reclaim US $12 million in costs for the 2007 Miss Universe pageant in Mexico City.
Trump’s revenge
Viewed in the light of these business dealings, all of Trump’s subsequent provocations against Mexico after he was elected president, from deportations and the border wall to tariffs and taxes on remittances and pressure to capture cartel leaders, can be read as retribution for the stinging setbacks he suffered — first in Baja California, and later in other areas of the country.
Chris Sands is a writer and editor for Mexico News Daily, and the former Cabo San Lucas local expert for the USA Today travel website 10 Best and writer of Fodor’s Los Cabos travel guidebook. He’s a contributor to numerous websites and publications, including The San Diego Union-Tribune, Marriott Bonvoy Traveler, Forbes Travel Guide, Porthole Cruise and Travel, and Cabo Living.
Mexico has been taking the problem of childhood obesity seriously, with new policies that ban junk food and sugary drinks from schools. The results are starting to show, but there's much work ahead. (Keizers / CC BY-SA 3.0)
The 2026 edition of the World Atlas on Childhood Obesity ranks Mexico among the top 10 countries with the highest rates of childhood obesity, an improvement over the previous narrative that put Mexico in the top spot, but still a cause for alarm.
The Atlas revealed that Mexico ranks No. 8 in childhood obesity, with some 6 million children between the ages of 5 and 19 living with obesity. The top three countries in the ranking are China (33 million), India (14 million) and the United States (13 million).
México ha combatido la pandemia de obesidad infantil como ningún otro país. Merece la pena mencionar que es gracias a las políticas públicas impulsadas por el gobierno de @lopezobrador_, @HLGatell, @Claudiashein y David Kershenobichz.
— El científico del bienestar (@DoctorZamudio) March 7, 2026
When children who are overweight but not obese are factored in, the order of the top 10 remains the same. The number of overweight and obese kids in No. 1 China is 62 million, in No. 2 India 41 million, in No. 3 U.S. 27 million and in No. 8 Mexico 13 million.
“We are no longer the first country, nor are we among the first countries with obesity, neither in adults nor in children, fortunately,” Simon Barquera, president of the World Obesity Federation, told the news magazine Expansión. “This doesn’t mean we should celebrate yet. It means that things have been held back a bit, possibly.”
Another reason not to celebrate the new ranking is the different measurement used to determine it. When the OECD and other organizations named Mexico as the No. 1 country in childhood obesity more than a decade ago, it was based on the percentage of the childhood population with obesity. The current World Obesity Federation ranking simply counts the total number of overweight or obese kids in each country.
In that light, Mexico’s 13 million compares less favorably to China’s 62 million when it’s remembered that China’s total population is about 10 times greater than Mexico’s.
In recent years, the Mexican government has prioritized policies aimed at preventing childhood obesity. In 2020, the country introduced a law requiring warning labels on packaged food that are high in saturated fat, trans fat, sugar, sodium or calories.
Barquera said this strategy has helped 60% of consumers choose healthier alternatives.
Last year, Mexico also banned the sale of junk food and sugary drinks in schools, in an effort to improve children’s eating habits.
These policies have earned Mexico international recognition by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, which have called on other countries to adopt similar strategies.
“There are reasons to believe that [Mexicans] are already beginning to see positive results,” Barquera said, adding that it is vital to “remain cautious.”
“We shouldn’t assume that we have already contained the disease,” he said. “Rather, we should say: ‘We are on the right track, but we must reinforce all our actions.’”
In Mexico, the northern state of Chihuahua leads in childhood obesity, the most recent National Health and Nutrition Survey revealed.
Official data in the state shows that 25,000 children under 4 years old are obese or overweight, while some 64,000 children between the ages of 4 and 12 face the same challenge.
“This work has never belonged only to me. It belongs to the people who trusted me enough to stand in front of the camera and speak their truth,” says artist Kate Van Doren. (Chloe Zola)
On March 6, artist Kate Van Doren welcomed nearly 500 curious attendees to the opening night of her new solo exhibition at the Museo de Arte de Querétaro (MAQRO), which runs through June 6.
Filling three huge galleries, “The Healing Words Project” is a living body of work composed of hundreds of women’s deeply compelling stories of survival, displacement, grief, resistance and healing — expressed through Van Doren’s arresting photographic, drawn and painted portraits, as well as video installations.
The ‘Healing Words Project’
“Love as Resistance” features Palestinian Ambassador to Mexico Nadya Layla Rasheed. Oil painting by Kate Van Doren. (Kate Van Doren)
Van Doren, a registered art therapist, centers self-authored narratives in this project. Each participant contributes her own words — often a mantra, prayer or declaration — which are written directly onto her body and documented in photographic portraits. These images then become the foundation for additional artworks that reflect both individual and shared human experience.
The Healing Words Project began in Mexico in 2020 during Un Día Sin Mujeres, a national day of protest initiated as a response to Mexico’s crisis of gender-based violence. Van Doren offered her photography as a form of art-based activism.
For Un Día Sin Mujeres, women wrote words on their bodies as acts of visibility, solidarity and resistance and Van Doren photographed them.
Then, as she explained, “Something inspiring happened: The photographs became conversations. Conversations became stories. And stories became healing.”
So far, she has documented the healing journeys of over 2,000 women.
Palestinian Ambassador Nadya Layla Rasheed introduces the artist
On opening night, MAQRO Director Antonio Arelle and Ana Paola López Birlain, Secretary of Culture for the state of Querétaro, welcomed the crowd of attendees and discussed the significance of the exhibition. Van Doren was introduced by Palestinian Ambassador to Mexico Nadya Layla Rasheed, who was also a participant in the project.
“This is so much more than a portrait,” says renowned Iranian artist Shadi Yousesfian of Van Doren’s image of her. “Through the ‘Healing Words Project,’ every woman’s story is heard, every journey of resilience is honored.” (Chloe Zola)
“To be Palestinian is to carry memory in the body and responsibility in the heart,” Rasheed said. “For us, art is never simply creativity; it is memory, resistance and survival … That is why the “Healing Words Project” matters so deeply to me. It plants something our world desperately needs today: humanity. And when humanity is planted with care, it grows — in communities, in movements and in the hearts of those who choose to listen.”
Van Doren is donating proceeds from the sale of each portrait to a charity designated by the woman in that picture. Proceeds from Ambassador Rasheed’s painting, for example, support the Noor Gaza Orphan Care Program for children in Gaza who have lost one or both parents. The program provides care for Gaza orphans to grow with stability, safety and dignity. In the case of several other women in the project who are living in conflict zones, the money has gone to their families to help ensure their survival.
Participants were among the attendees
Many of the women featured in the “Healing Words Project” portraits attended the opening of the exhibition, some of them traveling great distances with their families to do so.
“I have looked in a mirror and not seen myself as clearly as I see myself in this portrait,” said Alzenira Quezada. “This art show is one of the best things I have been a part of. I will never forget that my portrait was in an important place, one of the most important museums in Mexico.
“Every one of us was chosen for our unique strength — by an artist with eyes powerful enough to see our truth.”
Over the years, explained Van Doren, she’s worked with survivors of violence, with activists, and with mothers, daughters, elders and young people “learning the language of self-worth for the first time.”
Navigating trauma, displacement and recovery
Alzenira Quezada poses with their own Van Doren portrait, “Mister Lady Zen.”
“I have worked with communities navigating trauma, displacement and recovery,” Van Doren says. “But just as importantly, I have worked with individuals who simply wanted to grow — to redefine themselves, to mark a transition and to honor healing already underway.”
“The most profound thing I have learned is this,” Van Doren continues. “Healing is rarely solitary. When one person speaks honestly, others recognize themselves. The courage of one becomes permission for many.”
“This project exists to amplify voices that have been silenced or misrepresented, but also to remind us that every person carries a story worth witnessing — including our own,” she says.
“Her work evokes perseverance and the depth we carry as women: creators with our bodies, minds, hearts and souls,” said Michelle Wedderburn, the director of “Peace Not Pieces” healing retreats for women at Casa ELM in San Miguel de Allende.
Another participant at the event, Gabriela Osorio, shared her story of rebuilding herself after a series of violent and complicated events.
“The ‘Healing Words Project’ provided a reminder that my daughter and I once were wounded and lost, but we never stopped believing in ourselves,” Osorio said. “We kept up the fight. We learned to hear our hearts louder than ever, stronger than ever.”
What happens when women are believed?
Kate Van Doren has documented the healing journeys of over 2,000 women through the “Healing Words Project.” (Chloe Zola)
Van Doren’s exhibition arrives at a moment of global reckoning around gender-based violence as well as around issues of migration, displacement and other forms of collective trauma. Some of the women represented in the exhibition are refugees, activists, survivors, mothers, artists and leaders. Some have been impacted by war and displacement, some by economic instability. Others are navigating systems that have long silenced them.
Rather than framing these stories through a lens of victimhood, the “Healing Words Project” centers agency. The women are not merely subjects of the artwork; they are collaborators and coauthors.
At its heart, the project asks a radical question: What happens when women are believed? And further, what becomes possible when their stories are not edited, interpreted or extracted but honored exactly as they are offered?
An entire gallery wall, for example, is dedicated to the work of Sorroras y Rebeldes, a group of feminist activists whom Van Doren has documented for the past five years. An impactful article by Irene Fuentes, a member of the feminist collective, accompanies their photographs.
The exhibition also includes several videos capturing the stories of women from around the world, such as Citlalli Parra, a textile artist preserving the art of Indigenous communities in Mexico and Lee Asheroff, a 98-year-old Jewish woman whose mantra is “trust yourself and go forward,” and Ambassador Rasheed, who participated with her mother, Hanan Rasheed.
Van Doren’s ‘empathic realism’ invites collaboration
Van Doren describes her approach as empathic realism — a socially engaged form of realism rooted in ethical collaboration and deep listening. Her paintings and drawings are technically precise and emotionally complex, showing grief and strength, anger alongside tenderness, vulnerability coupled with power.
For five years, artist Kate Van Doren has documented the work of Sorroras y Rebeldes, feminist activists in San Miguel de Allende.
The exhibition unfolds across three rooms, inviting viewers into an immersive encounter. The cumulative effect is intimate and expansive at once — each woman’s story stands on its own while also contributing to a collective chorus. The repetition of words, faces and gestures becomes a form of visual testimony.
And, for a deeper encounter, QR codes near the images connect viewers to the personal stories of hundreds of women on the project website, giving them greater context for what they’re seeing.
Healing moments
Kate Van Doren at work with Isabel Castrejòn and Tuti Acosta. (Sean Reagan Photography)
Van Doren hopes that visiting the exhibition will be a healing moment for many women, and the exhibit includes interactive elements to enhance that experience. For example, visitors are invited to write their own words on strips of cloth and tie them to a graceful metal sculpture, where hundreds fluttered already by the end of opening night, creating its own collective work of art. The sculpture was created by Van Doren’s husband, Alex, of Van Doren Metal Art.
Museumgoers will also encounter a mirror inscribed with the sentence “I am beautiful,” a declaration difficult for many women to own. The mirror is positioned so that when a person looks into it, they are framed by a powerful sisterhood — the faces of dozens of Van Doren’s participants. Another particularly impactful work on display is a dress made of fabric printed with Van Doren’s images of the women, sewn by local seamstress Inés Trujillo Chávez.
The exhibition does not promise resolution or closure; instead, it offers an invitation to feel, to listen and to recognize the core of one’s own story in that of another person.
Ann Marie Jackson is a book editor and the award-winning author of “The Broken Hummingbird.” She lives in San Miguel de Allende and can be reached through her website: annmariejacksonauthor.com.
Mexico City tourism officials described Xoli as “a new chilango chatbot that will accompany you during your stay.” (Gob CDMX)
The Mexico City government has unveiled Xoli, an AI-powered virtual assistant capable of holding conversations in both Spanish and English, whose main objective is to enhance the experience of visitors to the capital.
The tool, developed by city authorities with the support of the federal government, is accessible via any web browser and WhatsApp and aims to simplify access to information in one of the world’s most complex urban centers.
Available now, Xoli operates 24/7 and functions as a digital guide that answers questions about transportation, events, cultural attractions and services in seconds.
“We want every visitor to experience Mexico City in a simple and digital way,” said Ángel Tamariz, director of the capital’s Digital Agency for Public Innovation. “This new tool is an open window to our city and everything it has to offer.”
The chatbot was introduced last week by Mayor Clara Brugada in anticipation of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which begins in June, but will remain a permanent option for tourism after the conclusion of the international soccer tournament.
A mascot of Xoli attended the launch of the chatbot in Mexico City last week. (Gob CDMX)
The newspaper El Economista said the chatbot is “part of an innovative strategy combining immediate attention, accessibility and efficient use of technology” to enhance the experience of visitors to the capital.
The news magazine Wired described Xoli as Mexico’s latest technological innovation aimed at “turning the World Cup into an engine of development.”
“Xoli represents the hospitality that characterizes Mexico City, brought to the digital realm,” said Mexico City Tourism Minister Alejandra Frausto. “The city offers tourists and visitors more than 3,000 activities each day, and this chatbot helps ensure that everything can be experienced in an organized and memorable way.”
The tool — which works with decision trees and is powered by Artificial Intelligence — stands out for its inclusive and accessible approach.
The design of the chatbot does not include complicated menus and is said to allow users to experience a more natural and faster interaction.
